THE  GOLDEN  PARALLELS. 
29 
conclusions  are  arrived  at.    In  the  first  place,  we  are  reminded 
that  the  great  gold  fields  already  discovered  are  all  included 
within  two  regions.    The  gold  fields  of  New  South  Wales  and 
Victoria  extend  without  any  interruption  along  the  slopes  of  the 
great  mountain  range  which  separates  the  eastern  seaboard  of 
Australia  from  the  interior  of  the  continent,  and  the  gold  fields 
of  California  and  British  Columbia  occur  without  interruption 
along  the  western  slopes  of  the  llocky  Mountains.    Thus,  there 
are  presented  two  great  gold-bearing  regions,  extending  along 
two  widely  distant  elevations,  and  probably  "owing  their  aurifer- 
ous character  to  some  influence  connected  with  the  upheaval." 
The  possibility  of  establishing  a  connection  between  these  two 
gold-bearing  regions  will  be  understood  after  a  little  considera- 
tion of  their  characteristics.    The  American  gold  fields,  under 
various  names,  run  along  the  eastern  seaboard  of  the  Pacific,  al- 
most from  pole  to  pole — from  Behring's  Straits  in  the  north  to 
Cape  Horn  in  the  south.    Throughout  this  vast  region  large 
quantities  of  the  precious  metal  are  found.    "  From  Chili,  in  the 
south,  to  the  British  Possessions,  in  the  north,  its  slopes,  spurs, 
and  subordinate  ranges  are  now  yielding  gold.    From  Chili  we 
mount  through  Bolivia,  Peru,  Ecuador,  New  Granada,  all  still 
continuing  to  yield  the  precious  metal,  after  some  three  centuries 
of  gold  mining.    Thence,  after  we  pass  the  Isthmus,  we  find  the 
gold  miner  at  work  through  Mexico,  California,  Oregon,  Wash- 
ington, till  at  length  we  come  to  the  British  Possessions,  stretch- 
ing to  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean."    Such  is  a  brief  descrip- 
tion of  the  gold-bearing  system  of  America.    Turning  now  to 
that  of  Australia,  there  is  found  a  coast  range  running  from  the 
extreme  northern  point  of  the  continent  to  the  extreme  southern 
point.    But  this  range  neither  begins  nor  terminates  in  Austra- 
lia.   It  extends  across  Bass'  Straits,  on  the  one  hand,  and  be- 
yond Cape  York  on  the  other ;  in  which  direction  the  chain  of 
rocks  forms  at  intervals  numerous  islands,  such  as  New  Guinea, 
the  Carolines,  the  Ladrones,  and  others,  until  Japan,  with  its 
gold-bearing  rocks,  is  reached.    Thus,  in  accordance  with  this 
theory,  the  basin  of  the  Pacific  has  on  each  side  a  continuous  ele- 
vation of  volcanic  origin.    At  intervals  on  both  sides  gold  is  now 
found,  from  Behring's  Straits  to  New  Zealand ;  and  it  is  stated 
